You're the Sun to My Moon, and He's the Stars to Our Slumber
by loofahlover
Summary: After years of silence, Sabo finds closure with his brothers. Luffy's no longer the only crybaby. (no longer canon-compliant)
1. Chapter 1

It was the first night after the chaos of Dressrosa. After some heavy persuasion (read: begging) from Sabo and Koala (Sabo's reasons were obvious, and Koala had jumped at the slim chance of seeing Jimbei again), their ship was escorting the Strawhats and Trafalgar Law to Zou. Sabo and Luffy were sitting on the deck, trying to squeeze in some chatter before bedtime.

Sabo absently rubbed at his swollen eyes.

"You ok, Sabo?"

Sabo grimaced. "Fine, just fine."

* * *

_Flashback:_

_"__Luffy." __Sabo stared at his brother, who'd __already climbed onto the ship. Their exchange in the coliseum had been far too short. Finally, he could have a good look at Luffy, who was covered all over with bandages, a satisfied smile masking his exhaustion. Dammit, why hadn't __he learned any self-preservation after all these years?!_

_"__Geez, Sabo. You're __such a crybaby."__Luffy laughed as he watched Sabo climb up the gangplank._

_Sabo sniffed. Loudly. __"__Shut up. You were crying too back then."_

_"__Well, that was then, and now I'm __not."_

_Yeah," __Sabo chuckled. __"__Ace would probably laugh his ass off if he could see me now."_

_"__Nah. Ace cried too. When we thought you'd __died."_

_Sabo felt like a large boulder was crushing his chest._

_"__He also cried when I almost got killed by the Bear King."_

_Make that an anvil._

_"__Ah but don't __worry. After you left, Ace became nicer. We got along fine, even without you," Luffy laughed, probably attempting to reassure his brother._

_Sabo collapsed from the mountain of despair on his back, tears and snot all over the place._

_"__Huh? What's __wrong, Sabo? You got a stomachache? Oi, Torao!"_

_Trafalgar Law blatantly stepped over the human lump on the gangplank. __"__Mugiwara-ya, there is no cure for stupidity. If there were, you'd __be the first candidate."_

* * *

Sabo tried to change the subject. "So I heard from Ivankov about what you've been doing these past two years."

"Who?"

"Ivankov. You know. Big purple afro, caked-up mascara."

(Elsewhere on the Grandline, Ivankov sneezed loudly, accidentally stabbing his fingers into the nearest two revolutionaries and turning them into the opposite gender.)

"Oh! Iva-chan! I heard Sanji mention him a couple times. Though he makes this really funny face when he does."

"I'm not surprised. Ivankov can be quite the sadist." Sabo repressed a shudder from memories of his training days.

Luffy went on without noticing. "All my nakama had been training to become stronger. They're amazing!"

Sabo could tell. The unspoken feelings of pride and gratitude were shining from Luffy's eyes. "It must have been lonely, those two years."

"Mm."

Sabo held an apology on his tongue.

"But it was fine. At night, I liked to talk to Ace."

Before Sabo's mind could even register any sense of grief, Luffy pulled him close and pointed up to the sky. "See? That one. Cuz Ace likes to stand out."

_The Northern Star, huh. Its presence had guided Luffy during those two years. No; __long before that. _Sabo clenched his fist. He could feel the heat simmer just below his skin, ready to burst aflame at any moment. This was how his brother had lived his days.

He turned to Luffy, filled with a rare sense of romanticism. "If Ace is the stars, then you're the sun. You never stop shining brightly, never stop bringing warmth to everyone around you."

"Shishishi, then Sabo can be the moon! But wait." Luffy scanned the sky that blanketed them from every direction. "Where'd it go?"

Sabo looked around too: of all the days for a new moon. He smiled bitterly. Maybe the moon really was an appropriate heavenly body for him.

Since it wasn't always there.

"Ah, whatever." Luffy crossed his arms behind his head and fell back onto the deck. "Ya see, Sabo. Nami told me once that…what was it again? That the moon's not actually shiny. And… it's cuz of some mystery thing."

"Is that so..." Sabo dug around in his mind, trying to decipher what he'd just been told.

He forgot the fact that Luffy had nakama who had been his source of strength for close to three years.

He ignored the fact that he hadn't even spoken to Luffy for four times that timespan.

_Think, Sabo, think. Luffy is your brother, always has been. You have to understand him. You're __the only brother left who can._ "Could it be…you mean that the moon doesn't shine by itself?"

Luffy tilted his head with a pout, testing the words for their rightness.

"Because it reflects the light of the sun."

"That's it!" Luffy catapulted toward Sabo, an echo of the once-eager seven-year-old. "It's something about the sun!"

And it was just like old times, when Sabo would patiently try to break down the mysteries of the universe for his one-man audience. He clears his throat. "Well, what happens is the Sun sends off 'mystery beams' that you can't see, and makes the Moon shiny and bright." 'Mystery' had always been Sabo's to-go phrase, when he didn't have the proper explanation. It was one of the rare times that he wished he'd studied harder. Not for his parents; never for them. Only for his little brother, who thought he had all the answers in the world.

"So that's what happens! Nami said something about mirrors and yoobi rays. It was too complicated."

"Yoobi rays, huh," Sabo grinned.

"So that's it," Luffy repeated under his breath. "Even when I couldn't see Sabo, Sabo was off glowing someplace else. And you said I'll never stop shining, right? Then no matter where I go, Sabo will always be glowing too!"

Luffy wrinkled his nose with worry. "Sabo, you're crying a lot today."

"I'm not crying! It's just my hay fever!"

Luffy swiveled his head left and right. "But there's no hay."

"It means there are mystery things in the air that make me sneeze. I'll be fine in a moment." Which would have been an adequate explanation for Luffy, but after a good few minutes, Sabo still couldn't manage to make his tears stop. If anything, they were getting worse.

"Saboooo." Luffy roughly bumped their shoulders together. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," Sabo whispered.

Luffy looked utterly baffled. "For what?"

"If only I had been there, then maybe things would have been different."

"…But you weren't. So stop thinking about it."

"I CAN'T! It's been two years, but it still keeps me up at night! If only I hadn't pretended I was dead. If only I hadn't joined the Revolutionaries. If only…before Marineford…" Sabo found himself revisiting his self-despising thoughts, approaching the edge of a nervous breakdown. But this time, it only took a quiet, clear voice to bring him back to the present.

"If only I had been just a little stronger."

Sabo looked up.

"If only I had just gotten out of the way."

Sabo caught a glimpse of two years of suppressed grief, before Luffy tilted his hat down with a finger. Just enough to hide the top of his face in shadows.

Just when had this little crybaby turned into a captain who could hold back his tears like that?

Sabo's arms automatically rose to give Luffy a hug. He desperately wished he could have been there for him…

No. He dropped his arms.

Idiot, Sabo cursed at himself. This wasn't a time for wallowing in regrets. Not when Luffy was right in front of him, after so long. This was a time to realize that there was still something important left. He swiftly pulled off his glove.

Luffy stopped wiping his nose with his bandaged arm when he saw the flicker of red in Sabo's palms. "Ace's flame."

"Told you I'd get it," Sabo smiled halfheartedly.

Luffy nodded, then burst into fresh tears.

Sabo immediately snuffed out the flame, wondering how his attempt to cheer Luffy up had failed so miserably.

"_Sabo."_ Luffy gritted his words out between gasps. "The last thing he said… was that if it weren't for us, he wouldn't have even wanted to live!" Luffy pulled on Sabo's jacket, like it was the only thing holding him together. "He said…thanks for loving him!"

And Sabo couldn't take it anymore. He closed around Luffy in a death grip, feeling thin but equally powerful arms encircle his waist. He could hear a raw wail ripping through his throat, trembling through his entire body and blocking out the rest of the world. In the back of his mind, he was glad that Luffy was rubber. Because any other person would have been injured within his grief-tensed hands.

He cried. And cried.

In the midst of his despair, he could feel Ace's presence simmering through his veins like a fever. He pulled Luffy closer, pressing as much of his warmth as he could into the embrace.

_Can you feel him, Ace?_

_This is Luffy, our baby brother. He's __really become a sight to behold: the future pirate king. Not that either of us could have ever doubted him._

_You protected him, just like I asked you to._

_Now it's __my turn._

And Sabo finally let go of the hypotheticals and the wishes for a different reality, consoling himself with the solid weight of Luffy in his arms.

* * *

That night, Robin and Koala briefly came out onto the deck with blankets from the sleeping quarters. They took a moment to stare at their boys, Koala with amusement and Robin with almost maternal affection.

They could scarcely tell that one was the second-in-command of the Revolution Army, and one was the soon-to-be Pirate King. They looked so innocent in their sleep, huddled into each other's arms. Dry trails of tears streaked their faces, faintly illuminated by pale starlight.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: To everybody who was expecting some more Sabo and Luffy bonding...sorry. That won't be the case.

* * *

It was originally Zoro's intention to head to the galley for breakfast, but once again, he found himself in a supply closet. Damn Revolutionaries' ship.

The Sunny made much more architectural sense. Even if he'd only had a month after leaving Water 7 to memorize the layout before everything went to hell in Sabaody. And then he'd barely stepped back on board before they were fighting fishmen. After picking up Law, there had been a few weeks of readjustment and ignoring everybody's taunts (no, he did not spend all his time in the crow's nest because it was easy to find, shut up). But he had finally, finally made it to bed three times in a row without someone guiding him…and now the ship was god-knows-where.

Not that he didn't trust the ones who had been left on the Sunny. He wasn't even that worried about Sanji being stuck dealing with Big Mam; more like, it was irritating that he was the only one in the 'Monster Trio' who had yet to challenge a Yonkou. That would have to be rectified with Kaidou, because Blackbeard and Shanks were for Luffy to deal with.

Instead, what bothered Zoro was the fact that the Strawhats had been split up for so long, when it was only supposed to be temporary. He didn't have much justification for being uneasy, considering how they'd been training alone for two years. He admitted that this was probably the price of having nakama. He'd be stuck feeling like little puzzle pieces of him were missing, until they were all together again.

With those kinds of somber thoughts in mind, Zoro opened the galley door, having finally stumbled upon it. He was greeted by everybody else finishing breakfast. The first thing he noticed was that Luffy had changed his shirt from last night, which immediately set off warning bells in his head. It was a fact that Luffy didn't care much for hygiene, same as Zoro; they were in the unofficial once-a-week bath club. Zoro changed his outfit when he started smelling bad. Luffy changed his outfit when someone from the crew physically yanked his clothes off.

"Oi. Luffy."

"Hrmm?" Luffy looked up from his plate.

"Got a second?" Zoro nodded toward the hallway, glancing to see if anyone else had the same suspicions as him. As Luffy gulped down the last of his food, and Sabo's eyes started drifting toward his brother, Robin conveniently distracted the revolutionary with the story about how she became a Strawhat. Usopp and Franky raised their eyebrows at Zoro, and when he shook his head slightly, Usopp started adding details about Sogeking to the story, with Franky quickly sobbing like an open faucet. As Zoro closed the door, Law was still pretending that he hadn't noticed, his eyes subtly following their exit.

After the third wrong turn, Luffy took the lead to guide Zoro back to the sleeping quarters. He didn't seem to notice how pensive Zoro had become. When they entered, Luffy was still chatting about what they were going to find at Zou, but Zoro didn't care. Instead, he ripped Luffy's shirt off, clamping him in place by the arms. It was a good thing that Luffy was Luffy, because any other pirate captain would have slit his throat for insubordination, if not sexual harassment. Zoro could hear Luffy shouting indignantly about what the hell was going on as he inspected his captain's chest, then spun Luffy around. Suddenly, all he could register was the pale-red, blistering handprints that had shredded through the bandages on Luffy's back . Like the wings of a deranged angel.

"He did this."

Luffy twisted his neck to see what Zoro meant, and quickly ripped himself out of his grasp. "No! I mean, yeah, but Sabo didn't mean to!" Luffy reached for his shirt, which was lying on the floor. "He probably didn't notice what he was doing. I mean, it took me years to punch in a straight line, and Sabo's only had his powers for a few days!"

For once, Luffy's argument made logical sense. Yet Zoro couldn't agree with it. There was just something about an older brother who wasn't emotionally stable enough to avoid hurting Luffy, let alone notice he was doing so. _And I left the two of them alone,_ Zoro internally snarled.

"It's fine." There was a quiet pleading in Luffy's voice. "It's not the first time I've gotten burned. Don't tell Law, ok? I don't need him to make it go away. Besides, it'll heal by itself over time."

"Why?" Zoro asked. "This is the first time I've heard you try to avoid getting bandaged up."

Luffy took his time to answer, refusing to meet Zoro's eyes. "It's kinda like a hug."

Zoro got a twitchy sensation in his hands. He wanted to do…something. Hug Luffy? Punch a wall? Strangle a certain tophatted guy? He settled with gripping Wado's hilt furiously.

He understood, he really did. Because Sabo may have eaten the Mera Mera no Mi, but there was only one man who would be automatically associated with fire. That constant sensation on Luffy's back must have felt like his other older brother was still there. It was a sign of past attachments; with Wado in his hand, Zoro didn't have a right to argue otherwise.

"Luffy." He locked eyes with his reluctant Captain, wrestling with the words in his head. _Is there anything you need to tell me? Anything I should say? We found each other again at Sabaody and took off from the ground running. Then there was that damn Hody, then Noah, Punk Hazard, Dressrosa, and finally we're here, alone for a change. And I've come to realize that you're the same, but at the same time, there's something different about you and I haven't had enough time to decide whether it's a bad thing. _"Are you ok?"

Zoro expected a grin, a 'shishishi' and a 'Zoro's worrying too much'. He expected his honest doubts to be brushed off.

Luffy must have sensed something, and instead responded with a calm stare. "I'm as good as I'll ever be." Like he was trying to remind the both of them. He turned around and headed for the door, likely to hunt down some more breakfast. "I'll go on ahead." He left Zoro behind to ponder what he'd just heard.

Only Zoro wasn't one to ponder; he was one to act. This situation wasn't a problem, exactly, nor was it something he knew how to deal with. So he could only console himself with Luffy's familiar enthusiasm for food, and quickly ran to catch up, always half a step behind his captain.


End file.
